Piedmont blueberry crops ‘incredible’ this summer

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GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. -- If you are going to have crop damage, this is the kind of damage Rick Langhorne wants to see.

"The fruit load is incredible,” Langhorne said. “The branches are about ready to snap off. In fact one did snap off at the base."

At Langhorne's Blueberry Thrill Farm in Gibsonville, his blueberry bushes are loaded with large berries that are easy to pick. On the other side of Guilford County, Bruce Henry's Blueberry Hill in Colfax also has buckets of blueberries.

"We had a cold winter and a late spring. It got the bushes ready for a lot of berries," Henry said.

The North Carolina Blueberry Council is expecting five percent more blueberries this year. And with the July 4th holiday coming up, growers will be open. So you can pick blueberries to go with your red, white and blue cupcakes and smoothies.

While the blueberry season is off to a great start, Langhorne wants to see more rain because June has been a dry month.

"Rain would puff them up,” Langhorne said. “It would take the stress off of the bush. They are trying to produce fruit at a critical time. We really could use some rain if we can get it."